WEBVTT 00:00:04.809 --> 00:00:08.150 This is Climate to Action, a CSUSM student podcast. 00:00:08.310 --> 00:00:11.410 I'm your host, Molly Saruwatari. And I'm Saturn 00:00:11.410 --> 00:00:14.470 Salama, the Climate to Action podcast team manager. 00:00:14.750 --> 00:00:17.769 We're here to amplify voices, explore solutions 00:00:17.769 --> 00:00:20.149 to the climate crisis, and to address climate 00:00:20.149 --> 00:00:23.120 injustices for all living things. We are committed 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:25.660 to incorporating discussions on climate justice 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:27.960 and indigenous knowledge to address the climate 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:30.940 crisis and to providing a call to action in every 00:00:30.940 --> 00:00:34.259 episode. Today, we are podcasting from Coastal 00:00:34.259 --> 00:00:36.600 Roads Farms in Encinitas as part of this first 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:39.380 San Diego Climate Week. Usually, we start each 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:41.119 episode of the podcast with a land acknowledgement 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:43.600 from our campus. California State University 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.539 San Marcos. Since there are 18 federally recognized 00:00:46.539 --> 00:00:49.000 tribes in the San Diego County, we'd like to 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:51.520 acknowledge all the tribes, ancestors, and traditional 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:54.939 knowledge keepers and original stewards of the 00:00:54.939 --> 00:00:57.619 land here in San Diego County. I invite us all 00:00:57.619 --> 00:01:00.659 to pause and recognize that we gather today on 00:01:00.659 --> 00:01:02.740 the unceded territory of the Kumeyaay Nation. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:05.519 Along with the Kumeyaay peoples, we also honor 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:09.180 the Luiseno Payocoichan peoples. Today's episode 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:12.040 is focused all about San Diego Climate Week and 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:13.700 some of the amazing women who put it together. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:17.200 We are here live with Erika Rodriguez. Welcome, 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:20.540 Erika. Thank you for having me. Erika, first, 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:23.140 can you tell us a little bit about how you first 00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:25.500 became aware of the climate crisis and what made 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:29.079 you want to take action? Yes. So it started when 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:31.500 I was in university as well. I went to University 00:01:31.500 --> 00:01:36.829 of San Diego. This was back in 2012. I got a 00:01:36.829 --> 00:01:39.609 chance to study abroad. So I went to Australia, 00:01:39.849 --> 00:01:42.790 studied in Sydney. And then after that, I went 00:01:42.790 --> 00:01:46.370 to I actually had a month. So I volunteered at 00:01:46.370 --> 00:01:50.290 an orphanage in Fiji. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So I 00:01:50.290 --> 00:01:52.189 stayed there a month. It ended up being a little 00:01:52.189 --> 00:01:55.010 short of a month because I got caught in a category 00:01:55.010 --> 00:02:00.079 four cyclone. That was my first ever. real, I 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:03.180 would say, natural disaster experience. I am 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:06.260 born and raised in California. So we had earthquakes. 00:02:06.540 --> 00:02:07.980 And as you guys know, I don't know if you've 00:02:07.980 --> 00:02:10.280 ever experienced an earthquake here. OK, you 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:12.719 know, a couple seconds underneath the table or, 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:14.219 you know, you're checking everyone's safe. You 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:17.400 have an evacuation plan as well as wildfires. 00:02:17.780 --> 00:02:22.039 Thankfully, with where I'm from, which is Bielton 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:24.439 or San Ynez Valley, we never actually really. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:27.960 experience a severe fire thankfully and so never 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:31.060 really had to evacuate or do any of that um which 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:34.039 you have you also have a plan and everything 00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:37.759 so uh got caught in a category four cyclone um 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:42.319 that was cyclone evan in 2012 and um from there 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:48.419 it was like It was 24 hours of terror. The strongest 00:02:48.419 --> 00:02:51.539 part of a cyclone is called the eye. And that 00:02:51.539 --> 00:02:54.460 was coming right through Nandi. And so just never 00:02:54.460 --> 00:02:56.840 experienced such a powerful natural disaster 00:02:56.840 --> 00:03:02.139 before. That really just shook my core. So, yeah, 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:07.000 I would say going through that and just actually 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:11.000 not even having any discussions about climate 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:14.469 change like within my family or even. in school. 00:03:14.849 --> 00:03:17.270 I'm not sustained, like I didn't graduate with 00:03:17.270 --> 00:03:20.349 sustainability or anything. I graduated with 00:03:20.349 --> 00:03:22.750 marketing and international business, nonprofit 00:03:22.750 --> 00:03:26.669 management, really focused on just trying to 00:03:26.669 --> 00:03:29.449 make impact with my work. And going through that 00:03:29.449 --> 00:03:33.250 really changed my whole trajectory in life, learning 00:03:33.250 --> 00:03:37.870 about climate change, learning how people come 00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:40.250 together after a natural disaster as well, and 00:03:40.250 --> 00:03:43.319 how the media also covers it. You'll hear little 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:46.300 blips of, you know, unfortunately how many deaths, 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:49.500 maybe just like the injured or like anything 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:53.199 like that. Then another news story hits up and 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:57.360 we don't listen or we don't get any updates on 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:59.360 the community. And so going through a natural 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.699 disaster like that, too, really taught me about 00:04:01.699 --> 00:04:04.439 climate change. It's here. And that was back 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:08.259 in 2012. Unfortunately, with Fiji, too, it was. 00:04:09.689 --> 00:04:12.569 more cyclones have occurred and more powerful 00:04:12.569 --> 00:04:17.490 ones. At the time, I experienced the most powerful 00:04:17.490 --> 00:04:20.709 cyclone ever recorded in Fiji at that time in 00:04:20.709 --> 00:04:24.930 2012. And so more cyclones frequently and more 00:04:24.930 --> 00:04:26.910 powerful ones have gone through. So it just taught 00:04:26.910 --> 00:04:29.009 me so much about climate change, going through 00:04:29.009 --> 00:04:33.930 that. And that's my climate action story. That's 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:37.459 insane. How did all that from the Cyclone and 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:39.680 everything, how did it lead you to actually organizing 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.279 San Diego's Climate Week? Yeah, so many steps. 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:45.980 After the Cyclone, I really just wanted my work 00:04:45.980 --> 00:04:49.300 to be meaningful. I actually went into corporate, 00:04:49.420 --> 00:04:52.639 more in the transportation space of different 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:57.040 ways to look at transportation than just a single 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:03.300 -use car. And then from there... I would say 00:05:03.300 --> 00:05:06.899 it was more of just like a calling for me. Obviously, 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:09.899 with the Trump administration, it was really 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:12.639 such a, I almost thought I was going to move 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:14.740 out of the US because I was just feeling really 00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:18.579 down and really powerless, I would say. And especially 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:21.379 with my individual actions of what I can do at 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:23.680 the federal level. And so really focusing on 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:27.129 like, what can I do if it's so chaotic and like 00:05:27.129 --> 00:05:29.430 obviously climate was not the environment wasn't 00:05:29.430 --> 00:05:31.949 a priority for this administration and we were 00:05:31.949 --> 00:05:33.850 seeing it with so many things like rolling back 00:05:33.850 --> 00:05:36.610 things were getting attacked and like defunded 00:05:36.610 --> 00:05:38.689 and everything it was like what can i do locally 00:05:38.689 --> 00:05:42.970 in my own community here and i just have built 00:05:42.970 --> 00:05:45.550 i have a marketing agency it's a sustainable 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:47.709 marketing agency and i've built such a community 00:05:47.709 --> 00:05:51.819 here in san diego that i just rooted in What 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:54.160 can we do hyperlocal? And what can I do with 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:56.379 my community around me, around sustainability? 00:05:56.500 --> 00:05:59.519 And obviously Climate Week, it's not a new thing. 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.439 It's in other cities like New York and L .A., 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:05.980 SF. And so I just took that example. And with 00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:08.660 my marketing eye, it was like it just made sense. 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:11.660 If you really drive like traffic as far as like 00:06:11.660 --> 00:06:14.379 a week of different events, different topics 00:06:14.379 --> 00:06:17.420 and categories and get people educated and like. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.800 go for one call to action, or even just have 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.779 people speak that they don't get to speak on 00:06:22.779 --> 00:06:25.959 and give them the stage, then it was like, then 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:29.379 we can build power. We can build momentum. And 00:06:29.379 --> 00:06:31.980 with that, the whole point of Climate Week, it's 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:34.180 like, hopefully this is not just the week. Hopefully 00:06:34.180 --> 00:06:37.180 it's a ripple effect that's all year long. But 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:40.180 from there, just really rooted in my community 00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:42.779 and ask people like, do you want to bring Climate 00:06:42.779 --> 00:06:45.079 Week to San Diego? And I did that with a Google 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:51.980 form. Oh, wow. Nice. How would you describe the 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:55.579 mission of San Diego Climate Week in one sentence, 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:59.639 maybe? And why does San Diego in particular need 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:04.120 an event like this right now? Yeah, so one sentence, 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:06.660 you're challenging me here, but really to create 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:11.019 space to educate people, to have people collaborate, 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:16.680 and to help them, I would say, be purposeful 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:20.870 in action. based um trying to give them that's 00:07:20.870 --> 00:07:23.110 another sentence but then just trying to give 00:07:23.110 --> 00:07:25.550 them the opportunities to also if they're in 00:07:25.550 --> 00:07:28.089 the non -profit space or if they are experiencing 00:07:28.089 --> 00:07:33.949 um or they have the experience um around climate 00:07:33.949 --> 00:07:37.769 just giving them the mic so they can also explain 00:07:37.769 --> 00:07:40.889 to us and we can all collaborate and be inspired 00:07:40.889 --> 00:07:44.370 by one another Absolutely. And San Diego is great 00:07:44.370 --> 00:07:46.850 because it's very diverse. You have areas such 00:07:46.850 --> 00:07:50.329 as like you have like El Cajon in the Imperial 00:07:50.329 --> 00:07:52.170 Valley and then you have like North County San 00:07:52.170 --> 00:07:54.430 Diego where we're at currently and you have closer 00:07:54.430 --> 00:07:56.449 to downtown, you know, and of course you have 00:07:56.449 --> 00:07:58.870 such a wide military population and with all 00:07:58.870 --> 00:08:01.310 those different like factors and everything like 00:08:01.310 --> 00:08:03.470 what has gone into planning this first climate 00:08:03.470 --> 00:08:06.089 week, you know, from forming your team to finding 00:08:06.089 --> 00:08:08.290 partners and then of course choosing the events 00:08:08.290 --> 00:08:11.029 we see on the calendar as well. Yeah, I would 00:08:11.029 --> 00:08:14.529 say. So with my planning committee, I mean, and 00:08:14.529 --> 00:08:16.550 really focusing on like why, like you said, why 00:08:16.550 --> 00:08:18.790 does San Diego need it right now? We are facing 00:08:18.790 --> 00:08:21.889 climate change with the floods, with the fires. 00:08:22.430 --> 00:08:25.089 You see people already displaced from the floods 00:08:25.089 --> 00:08:27.629 that happened last year still, and they're just 00:08:27.629 --> 00:08:30.670 waiting. With my planning committee, we really 00:08:30.670 --> 00:08:34.809 wanted to focus on what. How can we be grassroots? 00:08:35.049 --> 00:08:37.730 How can we bring environmental justice at the 00:08:37.730 --> 00:08:40.350 forefront? And how can we make it that there's 00:08:40.350 --> 00:08:42.909 no barrier for anyone to come to a Climate Week 00:08:42.909 --> 00:08:46.529 event? If you're not aware with Climate Weeks, 00:08:47.070 --> 00:08:49.009 They're great. They've been started in other 00:08:49.009 --> 00:08:50.970 cities, like I mentioned before, but they're 00:08:50.970 --> 00:08:53.509 very expensive to be a part of, to create your 00:08:53.509 --> 00:08:56.450 own event, to attend. And right now, for some 00:08:56.450 --> 00:08:58.629 of them, I can't even attend them as a business 00:08:58.629 --> 00:09:00.730 owner, entrepreneur, like they're even above 00:09:00.730 --> 00:09:03.350 my budgets to go to the events and to experience. 00:09:03.590 --> 00:09:06.210 So it was more of like, how can we bring it at 00:09:06.210 --> 00:09:08.730 such a level that anyone can be involved with 00:09:08.730 --> 00:09:11.230 Climate Week? And then to your point, Molly, 00:09:11.350 --> 00:09:14.009 that you mentioned, we really wanted to focus 00:09:14.009 --> 00:09:18.220 on. How can we activate in each region? Because 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:21.080 obviously central region gets a lot of love. 00:09:21.379 --> 00:09:23.779 North County does as well. We love our North 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:26.759 County that we're here today. But like yesterday, 00:09:26.860 --> 00:09:29.000 we were in East Region and we were in El Cajon. 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:32.279 And then before that, we were also at the Tijuana 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:36.789 River Estuary in Imperial. beach because they 00:09:36.789 --> 00:09:39.090 don't get the love yeah they they don't also 00:09:39.090 --> 00:09:41.289 get like the stage and everything so we wanted 00:09:41.289 --> 00:09:44.429 to activate in every region in san diego and 00:09:44.429 --> 00:09:47.909 bring people um together so if they couldn't 00:09:47.909 --> 00:09:50.409 travel to here they could hopefully activate 00:09:50.409 --> 00:09:52.830 in the space that we have that event or that 00:09:52.830 --> 00:09:56.289 we're also encouraging other event hosts to have 00:09:56.289 --> 00:09:59.629 their events there because for our event hosts 00:09:59.629 --> 00:10:02.179 and organizers it's free And we're hoping that 00:10:02.179 --> 00:10:04.759 it's going to always be free to host an event 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:06.940 during Climate Week. Yeah, I know that we really 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:09.340 appreciated it being free as college students, 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:13.519 Marcy and I. Oh, yeah. It was wonderful. What's 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.019 been the toughest part of organizing so far? 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.759 And maybe what are some lessons you would share 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:21.820 with students or young leaders trying to start 00:10:21.820 --> 00:10:24.620 something similar to a San Diego Climate Week 00:10:24.620 --> 00:10:29.059 or just take their own climate actions? Number 00:10:29.059 --> 00:10:31.840 one would be funding. Obviously, if you want 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:34.179 to bring everyone together and have these beautiful 00:10:34.179 --> 00:10:38.659 spaces and have, I mean, we have food and drinks, 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:43.539 we have... mics we have sound systems and projectors 00:10:43.539 --> 00:10:46.240 and movies and like there's so much that there's 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.279 just a lot of startup costs and then as well 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:51.179 as like our branding and everything I knew that 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:55.139 there was going to be a big budget for this so 00:10:55.139 --> 00:10:58.039 I would say funding and I would say the first 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:03.649 part that was hard was inviting people to come 00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:06.950 to climate week in san diego but also i would 00:11:06.950 --> 00:11:10.370 say investing in us because it is the first year 00:11:10.370 --> 00:11:12.870 um so a lot of people just didn't know how it 00:11:12.870 --> 00:11:15.049 would look like and like who would come to these 00:11:15.049 --> 00:11:18.230 events and like today like we're gonna be having 00:11:18.230 --> 00:11:21.750 like 250 people here um so people want to come 00:11:21.750 --> 00:11:24.129 to these events and so i would say the hardest 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:26.090 part would be like the funding getting everything 00:11:26.090 --> 00:11:29.490 ready but then um also putting like some metrics 00:11:29.490 --> 00:11:33.080 in place that then we can show like this is this 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:34.899 is our impact. This is like we brought people 00:11:34.899 --> 00:11:37.539 together. And so I would say for students, if 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:39.820 there's any way to like just show and think of 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:42.519 it prior of like what is the impact you're creating, 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:45.440 if you can show people that and that that's going 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:47.299 to be like a repeat event or anything. I don't 00:11:47.299 --> 00:11:49.059 know if it's a project they're working on or 00:11:49.059 --> 00:11:53.059 like an event, just showing those kind of stakeholders 00:11:53.059 --> 00:11:56.100 that this is your goals. This is how you're going 00:11:56.100 --> 00:11:59.509 to get there. And then also I love. following 00:11:59.509 --> 00:12:01.809 up with everyone and just letting them know too 00:12:01.809 --> 00:12:03.649 like here's all the updates and this is what 00:12:03.649 --> 00:12:06.470 we accomplish and going through there and and 00:12:06.470 --> 00:12:09.250 saying that is going to be a reoccurring event 00:12:09.250 --> 00:12:11.009 because we're hoping this is going to be annual 00:12:11.009 --> 00:12:14.389 for San Diego absolutely I hope it does too I've 00:12:14.389 --> 00:12:17.529 like like I said I've never been in the water 00:12:17.529 --> 00:12:19.549 conservation garden and it was so amazing actually 00:12:19.549 --> 00:12:21.330 getting to see it in person and then today I've 00:12:21.330 --> 00:12:23.570 never been here as well at Coastal Roots Farms 00:12:23.570 --> 00:12:26.299 and it's maybe a 20 minute drive for me and it's 00:12:26.299 --> 00:12:28.240 so pretty and I saw they have like a little children's 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:30.580 play area as I was driving in and there's all 00:12:30.580 --> 00:12:32.240 these kids playing with their family and it's 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:35.049 like outside so I really hope that this is an 00:12:35.049 --> 00:12:37.029 annual thing because I will absolutely try to 00:12:37.029 --> 00:12:38.950 come like every single day because I love this. 00:12:39.690 --> 00:12:42.610 It's absolutely wonderful. We're in a barn. I'm 00:12:42.610 --> 00:12:44.850 having the time of my life. Right. The music 00:12:44.850 --> 00:12:47.710 in the background. It's so good. I had a little 00:12:47.710 --> 00:12:50.789 charcuterie board. There we go. They have no 00:12:50.789 --> 00:12:55.169 plastic. Exactly. Compost. Yeah. Enjoying the 00:12:55.169 --> 00:12:59.019 land and just coming to. you know, an event like 00:12:59.019 --> 00:13:01.440 this and meeting aligned people, people that 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:04.720 also want to connect. Absolutely. I'm kind of 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.860 speaking on that with people who want to connect. 00:13:07.059 --> 00:13:08.840 Yesterday, we learned a lot about traditional 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:10.720 indigenous knowledge and traditional ecological 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:12.559 knowledge and how they connect with the land. 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:15.299 Climate change actually does affect many different 00:13:15.299 --> 00:13:17.740 communities differently, as you know. How are 00:13:17.740 --> 00:13:19.580 you making sure that all of their voices from 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:21.539 all the diverse different communities we have 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:24.159 here in San Diego are being heard and their perspectives 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.600 are being seen and included within the week's 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:30.320 programming and leadership? So first it is that 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:32.519 our planning committee is organizing the four 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:34.679 events that I mentioned, one in each region. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.200 So we're trying to invite as many voices as possible. 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:40.460 to those panels like you mentioned that you went 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:44.320 to yesterday and then as well making it no barrier 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.340 to come to an event so even one of our guidelines 00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:49.899 too for climate week was even if you had a paid 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:52.480 event we're encouraging free events but of course 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:54.659 we know with an event organizer you know if you're 00:13:54.659 --> 00:13:57.240 having a venue or if you're having food you know 00:13:57.240 --> 00:13:59.960 you might have to have it paid And so we're asking 00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:02.779 for community tickets as well. So anyone could 00:14:02.779 --> 00:14:05.539 come to them that expresses that they want to 00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:08.720 come to an event like that. And then also it 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.500 would be that event organizers, like I mentioned, 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:15.340 it's free to host an event. So I'm hoping as 00:14:15.340 --> 00:14:17.919 well, even next year, we get more events, but 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:20.299 more events also in the regions that we didn't 00:14:20.299 --> 00:14:23.519 get to hear as well, encouraging them to share 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:26.379 their experience and share the expertise because 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:28.860 we want to hear from you. If you're listening, 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:32.059 Climate Week is always going to happen. San Diego 00:14:32.059 --> 00:14:33.759 Climate Week is always going to happen October 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.000 1st through the 8th. And we would love to have 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.519 you host an event or contact us and we'll plug 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:41.379 you in on how to get involved because everyone 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:46.139 should be able to get involved. So what would 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:49.860 success look like for this first San Diego Climate 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:53.860 Week? Not just in numbers, but in lasting impact. 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:58.820 That's a great question. question um i would 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:03.139 say so yeah i i we got a hundred plus events 00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:05.620 for the first year and that was one of our goals 00:15:05.620 --> 00:15:08.320 as far as just showing the impact and the reach 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:10.539 that we have but i wouldn't say that's like our 00:15:10.539 --> 00:15:13.960 number one goal our number one goal is to create 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.419 action and what does that look like within a 00:15:16.419 --> 00:15:19.480 week thankfully we got connected to the city 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:22.220 of san diego and they were at our kickoff event 00:15:22.220 --> 00:15:24.460 they actually gave us a proclamation too which 00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:27.769 was huge it showed the the acknowledgement of 00:15:27.769 --> 00:15:30.669 our climate work and then that relationship. 00:15:31.009 --> 00:15:33.509 So even with my marketing agency, it's all around 00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:35.990 relationships and partnership building because 00:15:35.990 --> 00:15:38.049 that's how we're going to come together to solve 00:15:38.049 --> 00:15:40.789 this climate crisis is not individual actions. 00:15:40.870 --> 00:15:43.230 It's coming together. It's bringing people together. 00:15:43.289 --> 00:15:46.470 So with the city developing that relationship 00:15:46.470 --> 00:15:50.970 and also they have invited us to do like working 00:15:50.970 --> 00:15:53.769 circles or to like partner with them. not just 00:15:53.769 --> 00:15:56.009 during climate week, but also all year long. 00:15:56.210 --> 00:15:59.490 And so even with that, it's like that creates 00:15:59.490 --> 00:16:03.590 invitation to other people that might not have 00:16:03.590 --> 00:16:06.129 got that chance or might have not even learned 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:09.029 that they do these kind of things as well. So 00:16:09.029 --> 00:16:11.409 presenting those opportunities, I would say. 00:16:11.590 --> 00:16:15.690 And then I have lots of goals, but the other 00:16:15.690 --> 00:16:18.710 goal too is bringing attention. to the Tijuana 00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:21.230 River crisis going on right now. So that's why 00:16:21.230 --> 00:16:25.250 we had a whole event with our South Region event 00:16:25.250 --> 00:16:29.870 of call to actions and to know that you still 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:33.250 have power within your voice to call your representatives 00:16:33.250 --> 00:16:37.789 and to tell them that this is a crisis. People 00:16:37.789 --> 00:16:41.289 are getting sick from being in the ocean. They 00:16:41.289 --> 00:16:43.870 can't even go to the beach. It's been closed 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:48.230 for such a long time. and that water now there's 00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:50.389 fecal matter in the air and people are getting 00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:53.450 sick so that's what we learned about um and it 00:16:53.450 --> 00:16:56.549 was yeah it just like shook me to my core that 00:16:56.549 --> 00:16:59.129 was like just because where you live and like 00:16:59.129 --> 00:17:02.250 you can't people can't move out of there that 00:17:02.250 --> 00:17:04.190 now they're getting sick and so just bringing 00:17:04.190 --> 00:17:06.549 attention to that because even a lot of San Diegans 00:17:06.549 --> 00:17:09.210 don't know about that that that's happening only 00:17:09.210 --> 00:17:11.589 if you're in central that's only happening 15 00:17:11.589 --> 00:17:14.309 -20 minutes away from you And it's just going 00:17:14.309 --> 00:17:17.089 to get worse. So bringing attention to that and 00:17:17.089 --> 00:17:19.329 knowing that you can call your representative 00:17:19.329 --> 00:17:21.349 right now and you can bring attention to it. 00:17:21.390 --> 00:17:24.609 Because if we all do it, that's going to turn 00:17:24.609 --> 00:17:27.349 some heads. Yeah, I love that. Giving the power 00:17:27.349 --> 00:17:29.809 back to individuals and back to the people and 00:17:29.809 --> 00:17:32.230 making sure people know that their voice, well, 00:17:32.309 --> 00:17:34.049 it may seem like, because I know a lot of people 00:17:34.049 --> 00:17:36.410 have that mentality of, oh, I'm just one person. 00:17:36.470 --> 00:17:38.750 What good is that going to do? But in reality, 00:17:38.890 --> 00:17:41.470 one voice is all it takes to start a whole movement 00:17:41.470 --> 00:17:44.880 is all it takes. you know to our listeners be 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:47.740 that one voice make sure that you know you start 00:17:47.740 --> 00:17:49.980 it even if you feel like i'm just one person 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:53.680 just let it go like do do what you need to do 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:55.160 and do what you feel is right because at the 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:56.900 end of the day one voice can make all the difference 00:17:56.900 --> 00:17:59.500 i completely agree yeah and just having those 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:02.099 conversations i feel like too people keep it 00:18:02.099 --> 00:18:05.019 in so much and like just because this administration 00:18:05.019 --> 00:18:07.539 and like just everything going around it was 00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:09.950 really dark for me so i was just like Now that 00:18:09.950 --> 00:18:11.990 I can like talk to people about it and be in 00:18:11.990 --> 00:18:14.710 community, it was like, let's do climate week. 00:18:14.769 --> 00:18:17.549 Like, let's do it. And so it was like, it's you 00:18:17.549 --> 00:18:19.549 can probably talk to all my volunteers. Hopefully 00:18:19.549 --> 00:18:21.970 you guys do feel this way. It's just like this 00:18:21.970 --> 00:18:25.089 is like the light. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. 00:18:26.230 --> 00:18:28.509 Which is perfect because a lot of our listeners, 00:18:28.549 --> 00:18:31.390 as I kind of mentioned before the show, are CSUSM 00:18:31.390 --> 00:18:34.980 students or like students in this area. And maybe 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:36.960 a lot of them don't know how they can actually 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:39.779 help or put their foot forward. So what are some, 00:18:39.819 --> 00:18:41.720 let's like advice, what are some ways that they 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:43.940 can plug in either during climate, the next climate 00:18:43.940 --> 00:18:46.660 week itself or any climate work that follows 00:18:46.660 --> 00:18:48.319 when it comes to like volunteering or with the 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:50.720 Tijuana River Valley, anything like that? Yeah, 00:18:50.779 --> 00:18:53.220 I would say don't wait until the next climate 00:18:53.220 --> 00:18:56.160 week, like email us and like, let's do stuff 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.299 together. I don't know what that is, because 00:18:58.299 --> 00:18:59.980 after climate week, I'm going to take a little 00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:02.640 break. But what is that afterwards? Are we going 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:05.900 to have other events after climate week? I'm 00:19:05.900 --> 00:19:09.380 open to any conversations. I love having interns, 00:19:09.460 --> 00:19:11.579 too, that want to work on like the next climate 00:19:11.579 --> 00:19:13.940 week because we want to make this bigger, obviously. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:16.460 So it's going to take a lot of planning. This 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:19.000 only happened, I think, five. We started in. 00:19:19.849 --> 00:19:22.809 i did my form in february we started actually 00:19:22.809 --> 00:19:25.789 meeting in may oh my goodness wow this was such 00:19:25.789 --> 00:19:27.789 a short time just imagine how we have like a 00:19:27.789 --> 00:19:30.109 whole year to plan the next time that week like 00:19:30.109 --> 00:19:32.950 i want so many people involved too so like reach 00:19:32.950 --> 00:19:36.490 out to us email us uh instagram us or i'm not 00:19:36.490 --> 00:19:39.289 on tiktok yet but like we're gonna get on tiktok 00:19:39.289 --> 00:19:41.650 and if anyone wants to take that over and like 00:19:41.650 --> 00:19:44.329 social media marketing people um sustainability 00:19:44.329 --> 00:19:46.289 people anyone anyone that wants to get involved 00:19:46.289 --> 00:19:49.640 i would say reach out to us and like let Let's 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:53.640 find a way to collaborate. If everything goes 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:56.240 the way you hope, what do you imagine San Diego 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.660 will look like in five or ten years because of 00:19:59.660 --> 00:20:03.359 the momentum built by Climate Week? That's a 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:08.880 great question. Five to ten years. Honestly, 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:11.859 the goal is probably not to have a Climate Week. 00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:15.430 Right, yeah. You know, I know some businesses, 00:20:15.450 --> 00:20:18.569 some sustainable businesses are that way. We're 00:20:18.569 --> 00:20:21.190 in business because we don't like in the end, 00:20:21.250 --> 00:20:23.890 our goal is like to not be in business. I would 00:20:23.890 --> 00:20:26.690 love to like not have a climate week because 00:20:26.690 --> 00:20:28.769 it should be all year long that we're focusing 00:20:28.769 --> 00:20:31.309 on it. Honestly, I don't know if we'll get there 00:20:31.309 --> 00:20:33.569 in five or 10 years, but I guess with San Diego, 00:20:33.670 --> 00:20:38.869 it's more of just like. That's such a great question. 00:20:38.910 --> 00:20:40.970 I was going to say, like, I'd love to have this 00:20:40.970 --> 00:20:44.579 as a destination. So people are coming here. 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.640 But I already know people have come here from 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:50.819 LA. We heard from Chicago. We heard from other 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:53.720 people that flew in to come to our events. So 00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:56.140 we have people traveling in the first year. That's 00:20:56.140 --> 00:21:02.839 amazing. But I would say, yeah, I don't know. 00:21:03.140 --> 00:21:05.819 That's such a hard question. So we actually, 00:21:05.960 --> 00:21:08.720 one thing that we're doing, just because, like 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:11.009 I said, we put this together real quick. was 00:21:11.009 --> 00:21:13.549 we're working with a consulting group and so 00:21:13.549 --> 00:21:16.349 they're building us a five -year plan right now 00:21:16.349 --> 00:21:19.589 of just like how would this grow and like what 00:21:19.589 --> 00:21:21.990 do we want to see in the future so that's definitely 00:21:21.990 --> 00:21:23.869 something in our debrief that we're going to 00:21:23.869 --> 00:21:27.390 be working on and so also it's good to tell you 00:21:27.390 --> 00:21:29.650 guys as well it's like this is a work in progress 00:21:29.650 --> 00:21:32.210 we're not perfect or anything sustainability 00:21:32.210 --> 00:21:37.950 is not perfect so we're we love feedback I would 00:21:37.950 --> 00:21:40.970 say so if you guys have any feedback too on what 00:21:40.970 --> 00:21:43.089 that could look like but i would think that maybe 00:21:43.089 --> 00:21:48.910 with climate week if we focus on one topic like 00:21:48.910 --> 00:21:50.990 the tijuana river right now we would actually 00:21:50.990 --> 00:21:54.690 build momentum move that needle and it would 00:21:54.690 --> 00:21:58.109 be something that like we are just a big voice 00:21:58.109 --> 00:22:01.799 that happens every year for san diego That's 00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:04.099 amazing. Thank you so much. And truly, Erica, 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:06.119 thank you so much for joining us on our podcast 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:08.359 today. You've been an absolutely amazing guest 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:10.579 and so very insightful into what our listeners 00:22:10.579 --> 00:22:12.579 can do to take their next steps forward and the 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:14.759 important missions that San Diego Climate Week 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:16.680 has actually brought and brought to the attention 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:19.059 of a lot of people who maybe haven't known about 00:22:19.059 --> 00:22:21.599 these issues. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Molly 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:24.720 and Saturn. Appreciate it. Want to hear more 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:27.259 from Climate to Action, a CSUSM student podcast? 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:29.740 Be sure to check us out wherever you get your 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:32.460 podcasts and follow us on our socials at Climate 00:22:32.460 --> 00:22:35.619 to Action. That's at Climate to Action on Instagram 00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:39.099 and Climate number two action on TikTok. We'll 00:22:39.099 --> 00:22:41.079 be posting updates, behind the scenes content 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:44.240 and more. Until next time, this is Saturn. And 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:46.500 this is Molly. From Climate to Action, signing 00:22:46.500 --> 00:22:49.259 off. This episode of Climate to Action was recorded 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:51.900 at Coastal Roots Farm in Encinitas as part of 00:22:51.900 --> 00:22:54.920 the first San Diego Climate Week. Climate to 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:57.259 Action is supported in part by a generous gift 00:22:57.259 --> 00:22:58.960 from the Rosemary Kramer Ray Foundation.